It may have been the first game of the season, but the Wiggins volleyball team had to play without a key middle hitter in the opener against Estes Park.

The Tigers were forced to move Tanna Hansen into a middle hitter role on Thursday and had to play two freshmen in the game. Despite those changes, the team would prevail.

Wiggins held on to win the first set 25-23 and took the next two sets much more easily 25-17 and 25-15 for the first win of the season.

“It felt good to get it done in three and to pull together like we did,” head coach Michelle Baker said. “We had to try out a new rotation. Tanna Hansen did a good job in the middle and our two freshmen played strong and did a good job.”

Little separation in the first set left Wiggins scrambling to avoid going into extra points and losing a hard fought set. A couple of plays late by the Tigers allowed them to hang on for the win.

“In typical fashion, we had to get the jitters out for a home game,” Baker said.

The close win settled the team down for the rest of the match, where they started to perform at a higher level killing the ball and getting in the right spots on defense to stop the Bobcats.

A couple of scoring runs in the second and third sets got Wiggins a decent lead and propelled them to a win in each.

“Our defense and serve receive did really well. We just weren’t connecting with our offense early,” Baker said. “Some of our shots went into the net and some were out of play. It started to come together for us.”

The Tigers defeat Estes Park in the opener for the second straight season and improve to 1-0 with the win on Thursday.

Up next for the team is the Brush Tournament on Saturday and three more games in the opening week of the season. Wiggins will face Morgan County rival Weldon Valley in its first game at 10:15 a.m. and will also play Briggsdale and Prairie before the day is done.

“We have to play better than we did (Thursday) to compete with the teams that we will play Saturday,” Baker said. “We’ve been able to put (Estes Park) away in three sets in the past. That was a game I felt shouldn’t have been as close as it was. We will have to step it up a lot better regardless of getting the win.”

Baker added that the Tigers will still have to play with the makeshift rotation on Saturday and hopes to see better continuity with it in the tournament.

“I think Tanna (Hansen) gained some confidence and the freshmen got out on the court and got the first game nerves out,” Baker said. “It will help us. Volleyball is a game where you play to level you’re up against. Hopefully we can pull it off (Saturday).”